Apple Insider brings us a huge roundup of recent Apple iPhone-related patent filings.
First up is an ID App which lets users select from RFID, camera, or infrared input, or location data like GPS, to identify objects in their surroundings. (We'll spare you the tricorder jokes...)
Second is an outgoing voicemail recorder, which would record not the messages you receive, but those you leave for others.
Third is a way to sell iPhones and iPod's with pre-selected content. Metadata would be inserted during or just after manufacturing that would then download the content automagically when the user receives the device.
Fourth is for SMS parental controls, to filter out "objectionable content", and fifth would determine successful receipt of an SMS.
As always, there's no telling when, or if, Apple will ever actually ship any devices using any of these features. But it's fun to imagine the possibilities...
Waves iPhone around and makes tricorder noise
